NASA Astrophysicist Amber Straughn to Lecture on Search for Origins of Life

Chris Gunn/NASA

The 2017 Honors College Invites lecture will feature astrophysicist Amber Straughn, who will discuss her work on the powerful James Webb Space Telescope.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Astrophysicist Amber Straughn fell in love with the night sky in her backyard in Bee Branch. Now the University of Arkansas honors alumna, from the class of 2002, is helping to guide work on NASA’s biggest and most powerful telescope yet, the James Webb Space Telescope.

The Honors College will host a lecture by Straughn, “From Galaxies to Life: NASA’s Search for Our Origins,” at 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 25, in Gearhart Hall Auditorium (GEAR 26). A light reception will follow the lecture. The talk is free and open to the public; please RSVP at honorscollege.uark.edu/invites.

Straughn also will discuss the role of women in science as an introduction to a free screening of Hidden Figures (2016), which shares the story of three brilliant African-American women working at NASA who guided the launch into orbit of astronaut John Glenn. The screening will take place at 7 p.m. Monday, April 24, in Gearhart Hall Auditorium. The screening is also free and open to the public.

These events are the latest in the Honors College Invites series, in which thinkers and doers share their craft with the campus and community.

WORKING ON THE WEBB

Straughn is part of the team of scientists working on the James Webb Space Telescope, which is on schedule to launch in late 2018. The telescope will have a 22-foot-wide mirror – seven times bigger than that of the Hubble that it succeeds – and a sunshield that’s roughly the size of a tennis court.

The project presents formidable challenges, since these outsize elements have to fold up like origami into a rocket, then unfold once the rocket reaches deep space, more than 1 million miles from Earth.

The engineering is well worth the effort.

“The Webb telescope is designed to answer some of the biggest questions we have that the Hubble can’t quite get to,” Straughn said. “We’ll be able to look back in time to find the very first galaxies born after the Big Bang. We’ll also search for and study the nearest exoplanets – planets orbiting other stars – to help search for life in the universe.”

Straughn’s research focuses on how stars and black holes form in distant galaxies and how those processes change over time. She’s excited about the data that Webb will produce.

“After launch, that’s when the fun stuff starts,” she said. And she’s already looking ahead to the next big project: the Wide Field InfraRed Survey Telescope (WFIRST), slated to launch in the mid 2020s, will allow NASA to study dark energy, an unknown form of energy hypothesized to permeate all of space and accelerate the expansion of the universe. The new telescope also will allow scientists to take a closer look at exoplanets that could support life.

“Telescopes like the Hubble or Webb are similar to a telephoto lens; they allow you to look narrow and deep, while less powerful telescopes offer a shallow, broad view. WFIRST will offer the best of both worlds – it sees deep and wide.”

A STELLAR CAREER

Amber Straughn came to the University of Arkansas determined to study astronomy, inspired by years of watching the brilliant stars visible in the dark night sky above her father’s watermelon farm. She pursued honors studies in the Department of Physics in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences. Her first connection with NASA came about thanks to an undergraduate team project.

“We designed and built a reduced gravity flight experiment to fly on an aircraft,” Straughn recalled. “NASA accepted our proposal, and in the summer of 2000 we went to Johnson Space Center, went through training, and flew our experiment on an airplane where we experienced weightlessness. That experience got me interested in NASA as a possible career path.”

After completing a Bachelor of Science degree in physics, magna cum laude, in 2002, Straughn earned her master’s and doctoral degrees in physics at Arizona State, where she was supported by NASA’s Harriett Jenkins Fellowship. A post-doc fellowship at NASA led to her being hired as a civil servant astrophysicist.

Today Straughn is deputy project scientist for James Webb Space Telescope Science Communications and associate director for NASA Goddard Space Flight Center’s Astrophysics Science Division. She is an experienced public speaker, with audiences ranging from small groups of students to more than 2,000 people at events such as Comic Con and the World Science Festival. She has appeared on documentaries on the Discovery Channel, PBS NOVA, the Science Channel, Spike TV, the History Channel, National Geographic and on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. She’s also done interviews with CNN, BBC, Al Jazeera America, The Atlantic, and other media outlets.

About the Honors College: The University of Arkansas Honors College was established in 2002 and unites the university’s top undergraduate students and professors in a learning environment characterized by discovery, creativity and service. Each year the Honors College awards up to 90 freshman fellowships that provide $70,000 over four years, and more than $1 million in undergraduate research and study abroad grants. The Honors College is nationally recognized for the high caliber of students it admits and graduates. Honors students enjoy small, in-depth classes, and programs are offered in all disciplines, tailored to students’ academic interests, with interdisciplinary collaborations encouraged. Fifty percent of Honors College graduates have studied abroad – five times the national average – and one hundred percent of Honors College graduates have engaged in mentored research.

About the University of Arkansas: The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in more than 200 academic programs. The university contributes new knowledge, economic development, basic and applied research, and creative activity while also providing service to academic and professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the University of Arkansas among only 2 percent of universities in America that have the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Arkansas among its top American public research universities. Founded in 1871, the University of Arkansas comprises 10 colleges and schools and maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio that promotes personal attention and close mentoring.